Have you ever experienced the healing presence of animals? Perhaps you’ve noticed a drastic mood lift after playing with a puppy, or snuggling with a kitten. You’re not wrong to infer that being with cuddly animals improves your mood– in fact, multiple research studies have actually proven this point to be true! What you’ve experienced is known as the “Pet Effect,” coined by researchers at the Human Animal Bond Research Institute.

The “Pet Effect,” according to Mental Health America (MHA), is a phenomenon that bonds humans and animals and mutually provides many health benefits. Research demonstrates a myriad of these health benefits from developing bonds with animals, including alleviation of anxiety and depression, lowering of stress hormones, and reduction of risk for diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Pet Effect, also known as the Human-Animal Bond,  also demonstrates increased heart health, and overall greater happiness. 

The benefits of the Pet Effect are mutually beneficial, as the animals that humans develop bonds with also experience better overall health. According to the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), humans who bond with their pets are better equipped to take care of their pets. Bonded pet owners are also more likely to treat their pets with proper medical assistance (i.e. taking pets to the veterinarian), and are generally more in tune with their pets’ needs. 

As the bond with animals increases physical human health, it also significantly improves mental health. As aforementioned, research (from institutions such as HABRI) has proven such effects as the reduction of anxiety and depression, along with the lowering of stress hormones. Listed below are a few of the most common mental health benefits that arise from developing positive emotional bonds with pets. 

Reduces Anxiety and Depression

Studies indicate that owning a pet/having a significant bond with an animal alleviates anxiety, depression, stress, and feelings of loneliness. While modeling unconditional love, pets also provide a sense of stability and consistency that other humans can’t always exude, thus creating a sense of a healthy, stable bond without the fear of losing it. The same studies that show a reduction in anxiety and depression also indicate an increase in levels of oxytocin in the brain. Oxytocin is a chemical in the brain that’s released when experiencing emotional bonds– which is why it’s often referred to as the “love chemical.” Similar to dopamine and serotonin, it has been shown to improve moods and to increase general mental well-being. 

Lowers Stress Levels 

On the chemical level, bonding and interacting with animals (specifically pets) has been proven to decrease cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Studies have also shown that frequent time spent with pets lowers blood pressure, which is another contributing factor to reducing stress. Elevated levels of serotonin and dopamine, which are associated with feelings of joy and happiness, bring calm and relaxation, rather than stress and tension. 

Improves Social Stability 

Owning a pet gives us a purpose– to take care of another besides ourselves– and makes us feel needed. It also decreases feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Especially for children, owning a pet teaches one to care for another, and how to interact properly. Although interactions with pets are far different from those with humans, an underlying empathy still teaches pet owners how to develop emotional bonds. For those who feel socially isolated (especially during the course of the pandemic), having a loyal companion is enough to keep oneself going. Having a pet, at the very least, provides owners with a companion, one they know they can trust and love unconditionally. 

References: 

https://www.mhanational.org/blog/how-science-supports-pets-improving-your-mental-health

https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/alleviating-anxiety-stress-and-depression-pet

https://mhanational.org/blog/better-mental-health-experience-pet-effect 

https://habri.org/the-pet-effect/

Alexa Highsmith

Writing Specialist at Lilly Brush Co.

The post The Positive Impact of Pets on Mental Health appeared first on Lilly Brush.

A little over nine years ago, I decided to start a company. I had just invented a home cleaning hack that I found particularly useful and thought maybe a few million other people could benefit from it as well. It was certainly worth a try.

Though I was woefully and ridiculously unprepared for founding a startup, I had decided that what I lacked in business and manufacturing experience, could be made up for by unflinching determination and a voracious appetite for how-to books. I planned to simply work and read my way to market. Unlike many younger founders, I had enough of my own seed-money to get a running start. A lifetime of saving and investing had given me that.

Only one thing gave me pause; I had recently suffered an inexplicable health event. The “widow-maker” artery of my heart had spontaneously, spectacularly dissected one night during a family dinner leading to a massive, and nearly fatal, heart attack. Nobody could explain why this had happened. I was, by all medical standards young and fit. The vexing question of when or whether it might happen again could only be answered with many-a-doctor’s shrugs. So, despite all the other things I probably should have worried about going in, my biggest concern as a devoted single mother of two young boys, was that the stress of starting a business could actually kill me, so I turned, as always, to books and found a life changer.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

This book was written seventy years ago by a gentleman named Dale Carnegie who noticed that many of the business leaders who attended his YMCA class on public speaking were suffering from various crippling nervous ailments caused by their work or lives full of personal stress. Searching the New York Public Library for something to help these students, Dale found precious little about the subject, so he set about writing his own book of solutions. As research, he interviewed well-known military, political and business figures who had successfully conquered their fears while participating in World War II and the ensuing post-war economic boom. His timing could not have been better as the “Golden Age of Capitalism” had just sparked an increasingly competitive business world.

Founders know going in that they will suffer stressful moments, but very few have battle plans for when the worst possible scenarios actually happen. How will you handle it if an entire 50,000 unit shipment arrives just in time to fill a large order from your best customer…but it is riddled with hideously defective products? Do you open each carton, and every single package in it to check for the bad apples before shipping, or risk angering and losing your biggest account? Or maybe a key employee leaves , only to show up two booths down at the next trade show working for your competitor. There will be money woes galore, and impatient investors, audits by the IRS, and copycat products. Frankly, the whole experience can mimic a horrifying board game where you can only advance toward your goal by passing through one sticky situation after another. Will you make it? Yes, if your product is good, and your business practices are sound, and if you can keep your body and your mind healthy, then yes, you certainly might.

The Sky Will Grow Dark

I have been lucky. I do have an excellent manufacturer, but I have weathered a few of the storms described above, and many more, and yet have continued to flourish. My single invention for removing pet hair from clothing and upholstery has led to many more popular pet hair removal product inventions, and revenue at Lilly Brush now rises steadily every quarter. For now, our ship is on course. Should the sky grow dark, and I expect it will now and again, I have tools for that.

Whoever you are, and whatever stage of life you’re in, Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living can help you with useful, timeless solutions to some of the deepest darkest wormholes our stressed out minds tend to plummet into. It is, simply put, a seminal life-changing book worthy of a place in your business book library, or on your nightstand. Then should nights turn sleepless, help is near.

Sincerely,

Founder, Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

The post 9 Years Later…Surviving Startup Stress appeared first on Lilly Brush.